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After Moana 2, We All Owe Lin-Manuel Miranda an Apology
Without him, every song in the sequel is as flimsy and disposable as the last.
Setting aside the nonmusical standouts of the post- Frozen years — Zootopia and Big Hero 6, among others — the animated musicals that have strived to recapture the magic of Disney’s ’90s-renaissance era have fallen flat without Miranda to steer them. While “Dos Oruguitas” earned the Oscar nom, “Surface Pressure” and “ We Don’t Talk About Bruno ” broke through as massive crossover hits — the latter is Disney’s longest-reigning Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper in studio history. Disney can continue to try out buzzy composers like Barlow and Bear, but the failure of their Moana 2 score — and Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice’s Wish soundtrack — shows the danger of hiring songwriters who understand the sound but not the substance.
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